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Host a Domain from a Local or Cloud Linux Server

The Vircadia packages can help you get your own domain up and running quickly.

Installation / Upgrading​

You can run these same commands on an existing Vircadia domain to upgrade it if the original domain was installed using the package. Packages are currently available for the following distributions:

Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS (2022.1.1 Selene)​

Download​

wget https://github.com/vircadia/vircadia-native-core/releases/download/2024.1.0/vircadia-server_2024.1.0-20240303-9761de1-0ubuntu1-1_amd64.deb

Update System & Install​

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install ./vircadia-server_2024.1.0-20240303-9761de1-0ubuntu1-1_amd64.deb

Unlisted Distribution​

If you do not see your distribution listed here, you may compile your own server from source with the Linux build guide.

Configuration​

The installation packages will create a domain at the default port location and configure a service to keep it running on that machine.

For the list of network ports that you will need to open and manage, see here.

Connect a web browser to the server at port 40100. (If you are on the machine that the server is running on, this would be http://localhost:40100) Complete the initial setup wizard and you should have a functioning domain.

Files and Server Configuration​

The program files are installed in /opt/vircadia:

  • /opt/vircadia contains the executables
  • /opt/vircadia/lib contains libraries required for operation
  • /opt/vircadia/plugins is currently used for audio codecs
  • /opt/vircadia/resources is required for the administrative website

The executables in this folder (with the exception of new-server) cannot be launched from the command prompt without first setting LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/vircadia/lib.

The file /etc/opt/vircadia/default.conf contains any environment variables necessary to running the domain.

All content is stored under /var/lib/vircadia/default. All files underneath /var/lib/vircadia are owned by the user vircadia, which is also the user that runs all domain-related processes.

Services​

The installation packages setup the following systemd services to manage the Vircadia domain:

  • vircadia-domain-server@default.service: Manages the core domain server
  • vircadia-assignment-client@default.service: Spawns and manages the assignment clients
  • vircadia-server@default.target: Controls startup and shutdown of the above services

The vircadia-server@default.target service is the only one that is set to auto-start. Starting or stopping it will bring the other two services down.

Logs​

Logs can be accessed by running the following commands:

The domain server and assignment client services log a large amount of data to their service journals. Checking their logs (via systemctl status) is a good way to ensure they are operating properly.

Multiple Domains​

The installation package is configured to permit multiple domains to run on a single server at different port numbers. New servers can be created using the following command:

/opt/vircadia/new-server <name> <base-port>

where name is a word used to name and manage the domain and base-port must be the the first of a range of four contiguous port numbers not overlapping with any other use on the system.

Assuming you created a new server with the name my-server-two, this would setup the following:

  • Environment variables in /etc/opt/vircadia/my-server-two.conf
  • Content stored in /var/lib/vircadia/my-server-two
  • Services launched as vircadia-domain-server@my-server-two.service, vircadia-assignment-client@my-server-two.service, and vircadia-server@my-server-two.target

Deleting a Vircadia Server​

Uninstall the package.

# Ubuntu
# Note: 'apt-get purge' will remove configuration files as well. Use 'apt-get remove' to keep them.
sudo apt-get purge vircadia-server
# Amazon Linux 2
sudo yum remove vircadia-server

Deleting a Domain from a Multiple Domain Installation​

Find the name of the domain that you want to remove.

sudo ls ~vircadia

Pick the name of the domain that you want to remove from the list and then stop it.

sudo systemctl stop vircadia-server@<INSERT NAME HERE>.target

Disable the service for the domain.

sudo systemctl disable vircadia-server@<INSERT NAME HERE>.target

Remove the associated environment variables.

sudo rm /etc/opt/vircadia/<INSERT NAME HERE>.conf

Remove all data and configurations.

sudo rm -rf ~vircadia/<INSERT NAME HERE>
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/vircadia/<INSERT NAME HERE>

Legacy Services​

There are a number of tweaks that are made to the default configuration to simplify storage and the ability to run multiple domains on one server. In case you would like to remove this logic and run the servers closer to how a Vircadia server compiled from source would run, this is provided as an option.

  • Systemd services named vircadia-domain-server.service, vircadia-assignment-client.service, and vircadia-server.target (without the @name) have simplified configuration
  • No file is provided to specify environment variables for the server
  • Content would be stored in /var/lib/vircadia/.local